Fourth Lecture

Consider that this transformed etheric body of the human being is embedded in the lower body. And this new etheric body vibrates and vibrates, creating the feeling of the victory of the higher over the lower etheric body. When the feeling of the victory of the higher etheric body over the lower arises, a major key sounds. When the higher etheric body cannot become master of the unpurified, the feeling is evoked as if a minor key were sounding from outside. Through the major key, the human being becomes aware of his emotional mastery. If he feels that the high vibration cannot penetrate, he senses a minor key. When this musical element wants to join the cosmic world, that is the moment when the Buddhi element is stirred, and only then can the human being form artistic tones into harmonies. An approach to new development lies in music. It is not quite achieved in the other arts. There is something prophetic in music for future development. The new etheric body vibrates through music, and now the outer etheric body also begins to vibrate. In Mozart's works, but especially in Rossini's, the vibrations in the old etheric body continue, but to a very small degree. But if you could observe the listeners to “Lohengrin,” you would see how the effect is quite different. Wagner's music excites the buddhi body so strongly that it has a direct effect on the etheric body. Wagner's music thus brings about a change in temperament and inclinations in the etheric body, and with this you can guess what Wagner sensed and what was also expressed in his writings on music. The occultist says: When a person undergoes development and hears spherical music, they hear heavenly music. But everyday people cannot penetrate that far. Thus, human beings have the task of sealing the higher world into the physical world. In what human beings produce, they create an imprint of the spiritual world. Schopenhauer and Wagner sensed this, and that is why they attributed such an important role to music.